"When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall — think of it, always." Mohandas Gandhi

In a time of universal deceit - telling the truth is a revolutionary act. George Orwell

The German government yesterday passed a controversial anti-terror law that would grant police the power to monitor private residences, telephones and computers.

Instead of tapping phones, they would be able to use video surveillance and even spy software to collect evidence. Physically tampering with suspects' computers would still not be allowed, but police could send anonymous e-mails containing trojans and hope the suspects infect their own computers.

Privacy and civil liberties groups are strongly opposed. They point at a recent scandal at Deutsche Telecom, which illegally monitored phone call records to see if it could stop leaking information to journalists. Sebastian Edathy, chairman of the Bundestag's domestic affairs committee, yesterday told Deutsche Welle that "we don't want a spy state." He believes the proposed measures are "uncharted territory in the law".